Could Amazon get NBA rights next? Prime execs are ‘confident they can draw in younger audience’

The NBA’s current US media deals will expire after the 2024-25 season, and Amazon could be a contender to win rights to the league after its early success with Thursday Night Football.

Thursday Night Football viewership is up 11 percent from the first four games last year (11.3 million viewers), Front Office Sports said citing Nielsen data.

And Amazon reportedly believes its massive global audience makes it ‘attractive’ to the NBA.

The NBA currently has deals ESPN/ABC (owned by Disney) and TNT (owned by Discovery), with Front Office Sports reporting that both sides will work to retain their rights in the next deal.

Amazon’s 11-year Thursday Night Football agreement began this season with the company paying roughly $1 billion per season for the rights.

The company has made a splash with the hires of Al Michaels and Kirk Herbstreit as broadcasters.

Giannis Antetokounmpo has become one of the league’s biggest stars for the Bucks

Ex-pros Ryan Fitzpatrick, Tony Gonzalez, Richard Sherman and Andrew Whitworth have also been brought on as analysts, with Fox Sports’ Charissa Thompson joining as a studio host.

If Amazon wants to muscle into the NBA world as well, they’ll reportedly be paying far more than their NFL deal.

The NBA will be looking for between $50 to $75 billion for its next deal, according to Front Office Sports, with the league set to receive a combined $24 billion from ESPN and TNT by the end of the current nine-year partnership.

As the site noted, a streaming deal would not be new for the league, as it has a $1.5 billion-per-year deal with Tencent Holdings in China.

The league topped $10 billion in revenue last season for the first time, and boasts international stars like Giannis Antetokounmpo, Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic, as well as homegrowns LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry.